Vegan Receipe - 'Fruity Date' - Overnight Oats wirh Dried Fruit & Nuts

This was first attempt at overnight oats and I was blown away by the result!

I'll be honest and say that overnight oats never appealed to me before but lately it's been calling me to try them and I am so glad I did!

For this overnight oats I blended x6 soft pitted dates with water and poured the mixture over some dried oats and stirred through. I used this in place of plant based milk as I don't drink tea or coffee which means I never buy plant based milks.

My current way of eating and the receipes that I tend to create don't require plant based milks. You can of course use plant based milks if you prefer. 

What I love about dates is that they are such a good natural sweetner on their own!

 I judge the liquid content by how easy it was to mix as I am an eyeballing kind of girl. Most people use 1 cup of water to 1 cup of oats ratio.

 It was easy to stir but not too easy, a nice thick mixture. I then put the mixture in the fridge overnight to do its thing. In the morning I stirred again and added some dried fruit and nut mix and voila! A truly delicious combination! 

I love how quick and easy this breakfast was to prepare. Such a filling, super tasty, raw and nutrious breakfast, a great way to start the day! 

Why I Became Vegan and Why it Took So Long! Part 3 - Alkaline Vegan to Raw Vegan + Fruitarian & Mono Eating

Becoming raw meant that I would have to give pasta, grains and nuts😢😭

I would later learn that nuts and seeds were contributing to my menstrual cramps and so was able to give them up. Dr Sebi recommends only brazil nuts, walnuts and hemp seeds so they were the only nuts and seeds I was eating anyway. The hardest to let go of was the hemp seeds, I would sprinkle them on just about everything!

My first reaction to going raw vegan was to wonder how that would work in winter? Then to mourn all the super hot comforting foods I would have to give up such as spelt pasta, quinoa stir fry and amaranth porridge. They all definitely required cooking above 118 degrees!

I decided to try raw for week and see if i could do it. The next week was full of big salads often with avocados ( love avocados! ) 

Midweek I noticed that my skin was really glowing and decided to try it for a month but at 50% raw and 50% cooked as I missed cooked food. Even at 50% raw and my skin still had a lovely glow to it which wasn't there when I was vegetarian!

I learned that there are raw vegan versions for the grains and pasta that I loved so much.

Spaghetti is substituted with Zoodles which are spiralised zucchini/courgettes. In fact

Many vegetables can be spiralised and used as spaghetti and noodle alternatives. The plethora of vegetables include sweet potatoes, swede/rutabagas, cucumbers, squashes, carrots and beetroot.

Rice alternatives include finely rated cauliflower, beetroot and broccoli referred to as 'cauliflower rice', 'beetroot rice' or 'broccoli rice'.

EXAMPLE OF SOME MY 50% RAW 50% COOKED MEALS
Raw Spiralised courgette/zucchini base.

Zoodles with tomato, basil and mushroom sauce

Zoodles with sauteed okra, onion , mushrooms and kale.

Similar to above but without the mushrooms.

◇Spring green leaf(collard) wraps with home made hummus and sautéed sweet peppers and nori strips - no picture.

◇Baked cabbage with raw spinach and pine nut pesto - no picture.

◇Baked mushrooms with sauteed red onions and red cabbage topped with raw tomato sauce and cubed avocados.

Raw tomato sauce made with fresh tomatoes, coriander, grapeseed oil and sundried tomatoes.

Spicy broth soup with sauteed mushrooms, red onions and cabbage topped with raw kale.

Fully Raw lasagne with courgette/zucchini slices, sundried tomatoes and raw tomato sauce and hummus coriander sauce layers garnished with black olives. Not the prettiest raw lasagne but super tasty!

I noticed eating 50%raw gave me increased energy levels...when I had fully cooked alkaline vegan foods I would ready to go to bed by 9pm or 10pm (UK time) at the latest. When I ate raw I would be EXTRA wide awake and be up to till 12/1pm and I was still able to sleep well and wake up at 6am fresh and ready to go. Overall I needed less sleep!

I then had my first painfree period in July 2017 and it was like a miracle! I waited for the pain all week but not a twinge. I also had a shorter cycle of 4 days and not 7-9 days that I use to have.

I couldn't believe that going just 50% raw solved this so easily. I decided to go high raw at 85%-90% as I still enjoyed cooked food. This kept the menstrual cramps away and my cycle was reduced to 3 days and was 50% lighter! I no longer dreaded that time of the month!

I decided to go 'high raw' rather than raw alkaline vegan as I personally found raw alkaline vegan too restrictive.

After going raw I learnt about the Fruitarian and Mono Fruitarian way of eating.

There are some weeks where I'm fruitarian and some of that is mono so I may have bananas for breakfast all week, I'll either eat them or blend them with some water and a bit of ginger. I enjoy eating mono and friutarian but could not do it 100% of the time! I like doing it for a week or two to have a clean break from cooked food.

As much as I loved Dr Sebi's alkaline lifestyle my motivation was always to reduce or rid myself of period pains and if go back to that lifestyle the pains would come back. My body has confirmed to me that it thrives best on a high raw vegan lifestyle.

Being raw means my menstrual cycles are pain free, super light and shorter. I have better moods and energy levels to where some days it doesn't even feel like I'm having my period!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my journey.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions or if simply want to share similar experiences.